Background: Hybrid entrepreneurship, maintaining wage employment while

simultaneously operating entrepreneurial ventures, has traditionally been viewed as a

transitional stage toward full-time entrepreneurship. This perspective overlooks the

possibility that many hybrid entrepreneurs intentionally sustain this dual status long-term,

particularly in institutionally complex environments like Vietnam, where wage

employment, self-employment, and community logics create incompatible and

sometimes competing demands.

Purpose: This study aims to explore how persistent hybrid entrepreneurs navigate

institutional complexity in their daily lives. Specifically, I aim to identify the mechanisms

these individuals employ to sustain their hybrid status and also examine how regional

institutional contexts shape their approaches to navigating conflicting demands between

wage employment and entrepreneurship.

Method: I employed a comparative multiple case study approach with four final cases,

collecting data through semi-structured interviews (three rounds with a total of 25

interviews), direct observation in Son La and Ho Chi Minh City (at participants’ specific

locations), and document analysis of four cases across both regions. The analysis

followed an iterative three-phase process to develop a process model of mechanisms used

by hybrid entrepreneurs.

Conclusion: The results show that persistent hybrid entrepreneurs adopt context-specific

approaches to navigate institutional complexity, as evidenced by the Tactical

Compromise Approach in Son La and the Dynamic Progress Approach in Ho Chi Minh

City. Both approaches employ three key mechanisms (segmenting, interweaving, and

demarcating) adapted to local institutional environments, which lead to sustained hybrid

entrepreneurship. Digital technologies emerge as enablers by reducing direct

confrontation between competing institutional demands. My findings challenge the

assumption that hybrid entrepreneurship is merely transitional, while contributing to our

understanding of how individuals navigate institutional complexity. Like skilled dancers

moving between different rhythms, persistent hybrid entrepreneurs show that the

multiplicity of logics can be sustained rather than resolved, which presents a distinct and

potentially permanent entrepreneurial form. I also suggest several implications for employers, support organizations, and policymakers in leveraging the hybrid entrepreneur workforce for innovation and regional development.